Reincarnation
by CampHB
Summary: Alex wakes up to find himself without knowing where he is. More, he doesn't even know who he is. Often having visions of people calling him 'Luke', he enters Camp Half-Blood where he is called 'Luke' by accident instead of 'Alex.' What will happen? R&R!
1. Flashbacks

_"He's changing," I gasped. "Help. He's...He's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please-"_

_"NO!" The evil spirit inside me used me to speak his words. I was looking around for my sword, but it was in the hearth, glowing among the coals._

__

_I stumbled toward it. The dark-haired boy tried to stop me, but I pushed him out of the way with such a force he landed next to the blond girl and cracked his head against the base of the throne._

__

_"The knife, Percy," she muttered. Her breath was shallow. "Hero...cursed blade..."_

__

_I reached down and grasped my sword. Then I bellowed in pain and dropped it. My hands were smoking and seared. The hearth fire had grown red-hot, like the scythe wasn't compatible with it. I saw an image of a brown-haired girl frowning at me in the ashes._

__

_I collapsed and clutched my ruined hands. "Please, Percy..."_

__

_The boy struggled to his feet. He moved toward me with a knife._

__

_I knew what he was going to do. I moistened my lips. "You can't...can't do it yourself. He'll break control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can...can keep him controlled."_

__

_I was starting to glow now, my skin starting to smoke. _

__

_He raised the knife to strike. Then he looked at Annabeth, at the goat-boy cradling her in his arms, trying to shield her from me. _

__

_My insides felt like they were starting to burn._

__

_"Please," I groaned. "No time."_

__

_He gave the knife to me._

__

_The goat-boy yelped. "Percy? Are you um...um..."_

__

_I grasped the hilt and unlatched the side straps of my armor, exposing a small bit of skin just under the left arm, a place that would be very hard to hit. I had to work faster. I felt like I was burning. With difficulty, I stabbed myself._

__

_It wasn't a deep cut, but I howled. The room shook. I felt incredible pain. Deep pain. Not only physical, but emotional. I knew I had let somebody down. I knew I was doing the right thing. _

__

_"I'm sorry." The words were stuck in my throat. I knew I was going to die. "I'm sorry."_

__

_The light surrounded me. Everything seemed to explode. Pain seared through me. My arms, legs, hands, feet, neck, and face felt like someone was branding them with a hot iron. Someone poked my ribs...calling a name..."Alex! Alex! ALEX!"..._

I blinked my eyes. I wasn't in the white room anymore with the two boys and the girl. I was on the bus, sitting next to my best friend, Mike. He was jabbing at my chest sharply.

"Hey, Alex! Dude!"

"What?"

"You totally zoned out on me, man."

"I did?"

He gave me a funny look. "Duh."

Mike Walker was my one and only friend. He was African American with brown skin with dark eyes. He was wearing his normal clothes –a t-shirt, hoodie, jeans, and his old beaten up Converse.

"You all right?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to tell him about my little daydream but quickly decided against that. "Uh…yeah."

Despite my ADHD and dyslexia, I was one of the most popular kids at Woodbury High School. Blond hair, blue eyes, tan skin –lots of girls fell for my killer looks. Besides those features, I also sported a fading white scar that ran from my right eye to my jaw. But that didn't stop the high school girls from gushing over me.

"Bye, Alex." Carly Hansen, the head of the cheerleading team giggled.

I nodded absentmindedly. "You too."

She ran off the bus with her friend, squealing all over my answer.

I knew I had almost everything I wanted. I had Mike. I had any girl I wanted. I had Lisa, my perky and caring Spanish foster mother who made the best tacos. The only thing I didn't know was about my childhood. I don't remember being a kid.

Caring Kids Orphanage had been my home before I moved in with Lisa. I had stayed there when I was fifteen. Then at age sixteen, I had been sent to Lisa temporarily. The orphanage had told me that they had found me on the streets at age five. I had lived in the institution for seven years before they started sending me to different adults that would foster me for a month or two or maybe even a year. The orphanage started to get crowded when I returned from one of my 'parents' so they sent me to live with Lisa. Possibly until I was at least seventeen or eighteen and got a job.

What was funny was that I didn't remember any of my childhood. I didn't remember the other adults that had taken care of me. I didn't remember the caseworker that had brought me to different places. I didn't know what or who I had been before. All I remember is darkness and a speck of light in the distance. Then I remember waking up in Lisa's house. And her calling me Alex.

The only memory I carry is those quick flashes of action. Places and names called out to me in the visions. In all of the scenes, the kids had called me Luke. One time they had called me Luke Castellan and said that I lived in Connecticut. My dream-body had answered on its own. I had never told anyone about the weird images or else they would think that I'm crazy and –God forbid- send me to a nursing home where I would be treated like a baby. Besides, why would I want to ruin my reputation at school?

I heard Mike in the distance, talking about how hot a girl was and that snapped me back to the present.

He was looking at me as if waiting for an answer.

"Say what?" I asked stupidly.

Mike groaned and slapped his head. "You didn't hear a word I said?"

"Uh…I don't think so."

"You don't think so! You gotta stop disappearing into some magical world where there are rainbows and pretty ponies and pink clouds with sugar candies when I talk to you."

"Hey! It's not my fault!" I protested. "It's just that sometimes I can see -" I cut off suddenly.

Mike peered at me carefully like he was examining me.

"Here," he said. He shoved a card into my hand. "This is where I'll be working for during the summer. I want you to come with me. It's a summer camp for…really special people."

"When does it start?" I asked.

"We've gotta go tomorrow."

"Tomorrow! Dude, school doesn't end for another week!"

"Well, it starts tomorrow. Are you coming or not?"

"Uh…"

"Henderson, are you getting off?" the bus driver called.

"Wait!"

I slung my backpack onto my shoulder.

"I'll stop by your house tomorrow morning at nine," Mike said. "If you aren't leaving, then I can't leave either."

"I don't know, man…"

"Henderson! Make your choice!"

"Okay, okay. I'm coming." I walked down the aisle and swung out the door. "See ya."

The bus doors closed and sped away. I walked the short distance to Lisa's house. It was gray with neat white shutters. The door slammed behind me.

"Hello?" I called. "Lisa? I'm home!"

The house was strangely silent.

"Lisa?"

I walked into the kitchen. Everything was normal. The black granite countertop was shiny and clean. The metallic sink was empty.

I shrugged and walked over to the refrigerator. There was a yellow note stuck onto it.

**Gone out to buy some things. Get a snack from the fridge. Love you, Alex!**

**XOXOXOXOX ~Lisa**

I smiled to myself. Lisa would be back in a few minutes. I grabbed an apple from the fridge and a few plastic-wrapped cookies from the cabinet. I then dumped my homework out and stuffed the food and a change of clothes into my backpack. I would go the camp with Mike tomorrow.

I went back to the kitchen with my backpack and homework and started on it. At five, Lisa still wasn't back. I began to get worried. I nervously fingered my necklace. It was a leather thong. Tied on it were six clay beads, each a different picture on it. It was one of the things that had kept on appearing in my memories.

I went into my room and my jaw literally dropped. It had been ransacked. A chair was turned over. My clothes and other things in my drawers were littered on the floor. There were deep gouges in the wood of my bed, on my desk, and on the walls and closets. I had a feeling it wasn't made with a kitchen knife. When I had been in there a few hours ago, my bedroom was normal. It was a miracle that I hadn't heard the intruder from downstairs in the kitchen.

My instinct told me to go to Lisa's room, and I did. It was as dirty was mine. Her things were also everywhere. The window was smashed. Drops of brown stuff were splattered on the floor. A piece of paper fluttered toward me. On it was three words:

**Help. Still alive.**

I recognized Lisa's handwriting immediately. Then I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. Someone had come in when I was on the bus or at school. They had taken Lisa hostage –and hopefully hadn't killed her according to the note- and when I had come home, came back and damaged my room.

I rushed downstairs and picked up the phone. I dialed Mike's number. He answered.

"Who is this?"

"Mike. I got a problem."

"Don't call!" he suddenly hissed. "Come to my house." The line dropped.

I slowly sank to my knees. Then I picked up my backpack and ran out the door. Who would have done this? And why? Why was Lisa missing? Were they after me?

I sprinted the rest of the way to Mike's house. He opened the door and yanked me in.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah," I panted. "But they…they got Lisa…my room…her room…note…something after me…"

"Whoa. Slow down. Tell me about everything."

I told him from the beginning what had happened. His eyes widened.

"Oh, Styx!" he muttered. "I didn't think it would be so soon!"

"We gotta go now. We have no choice," he said.

"To what? The camp?"

He didn't seem to be listening.

"Wait, where are your parents?"

"Uh…I don't exactly have parents?"

"You what?"

"Anyway, let's go."

He got a set of keys from his jean pocket.

"The pickup's in the driveway," he told me, opening the door. "I'll get something first."

Sure enough, there was an old blue pickup that I was sure hadn't been there a few seconds ago. A few minutes later, Mike came out and looked around like he was trying to spy on something and act causal at the same time. He was definitely no James Bond.

Mike climbed in and started the ignition key. He closed the door and backed out of the driveway.

"Where are we going anyway?" I suddenly asked.

"New York."

"New York!" I fell back into my seat. "Why the heck in New York? I mean, we're in Delaware if you haven't noticed."

"It's not that far."

I sighed and leaned back into my seat. There was a crumpled card in my hand. It was the one Mike gave me on the bus. I unfolded the creases and spread it out on my knee. It read:

__________________________________

Mike Walker

Keeper

Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.141

Long Island, New York 11954

1 (800)-009-0009

Half-Blood Hill? In New York? Keeper? What was that all about?

I opened my mouth to ask Mike but he seemed too intent on driving. The sky outside the window was starting to get a little dark and I soon fell asleep.


	2. Getting to Camp

**Chapter 2 of Reincarnation is officially up! Enjoy! :) **

**~CampHB**

By the time I woke up, the sky outside was pitch-black. Mike was still driving. The headlights didn't show very far ahead of us and he looked nervous.

"Where are we?" I yawned.

"Near the middle of New Jersey," he replied, never taking his eyes off the road.

I realized that everything was quiet and Mike wasn't driving on the highway, but he was driving fast. The speed-o-meter read 82 miles per hour.

"Jeez," I said, "slow down. We're going to hit somebody."

"Can't."

"It's not that bad…is it?"

He laughed without humor. "I wish."

Suddenly, there was a loud _pop! _and the car lurched forward.

"Argh!" Mike yelled and sank his head into his hands. "Flat tire! And I ate the spare one too!"

"Wait, you ate the spare tire?" I asked, confused.

"Never mind. Pretend you didn't hear that last sentence."

"Right…"

We got out of the car and stepped in the middle of the road. Mike grimaced and mumbled, "I hope it works?"

"What works?" I realized that I really didn't know anything.

Mike took out a CD from the trunk and turned on one of the car lights. When the bright light shone on it, the back of the CD glimmered with small rainbows. Mike pulled out a gold coin and held it above the rainbow.

"Oh goddess," he murmured, "please accept my offering."

I figured out he must be crazy.

When he dropped it, I thought that the coin would just bounce off the CD, but to my surprise, it sank into one of the rainbows and the multicolored band swallowed it up.

"Whoa. So cool. You gotta show me that trick sometime, man," I said, awestruck.

"Shh!" Mike gave me a look. Then he turned back to the CD. "Camp Half-Blood, please."

The rainbow expanded and became a full-view screen. A man's face appeared in the picture.

"Chiron!"

"Ah, Mr. Walker," the man said. "Nice to see you."

The man –or Chiron as Mike had called him- had a neatly trimmed brown beard and twinkling brown eyes. He looked like he knew a lot, which, I would find out later, he did know a lot.

"How is it going?"

"Flat tire," Mike said dully.

"What about the spare?"

"I ate it." Mike's expression sagged.

"I see." Chiron looked as if he knew it would happen.

Suddenly, a piercing cry filled the air.

"Oh no." Mike turned pale and started chewing on his lower lip. I hadn't seen him this scared since the day some girls had tried to sneak into the boys' locker room and watch the boys change. I shuddered at the memory.

_Girls. Seriously, they're so desperate._

Something swooped down from above and I felt a feathery wing brush my neck. Mike slashed through the message and we stood back to back. I impulsively began fingering my necklace. Besides the clay beads, there was a dog tag on it. Engraved in the silver were two initials: L.C.

The thing came down again, this time screeching loudly. Mike and I ducked in time. I realized that we weren't the only ones on the road. Shadows started to move in closer. Mike whipped out an object. I had hoped that it was a gun or something, but instead, it was a wooden pipe.

The headlights of the car glinted on a shiny object and I yanked the tag off my necklace. I clenched it in my hand, slowly squeezing in it my hand and letting it relax.

"Handsome aren't you, little hero," a voice suddenly cooed. "More than handsome."

I breathed hard. A girl stepped out of the darkness. She had dark hair with bright green eyes. She was wearing a white classic Greek dress that draped to her ankles with a V-neck that was cut so low that it made me blush. Thin golden armbands wound around her upper arms. An intricate necklace of gold, mother-of-pearl, and jade encircled her throat and was wound into her hair.

She circled Mike and me, eyeing me slowly. Mike gave me a look that said 'She's hot!' I had to admit that was true.

The girl reached out and touched my cheek. Her fingers were delicate and gentle. She stared into my eyes and spoke softly.

"Would you be my hero?" she asked seductively. "Of course you would. I'm so hard to resist, aren't I? You are to. You're so hard to resist…to eat!"

Suddenly, she sprang at me and raked her nails in my right arm. The silky blond hair became literally fire. Her eyes glowed green and she changed. She was a monster.

The weird bird that had tried to attack us from above flew down. They had the head of a griffin and the body of a lion: gryphons.

My right arm felt like it was exploding in pain. I flipped the tag and it changed into a double-edged sword.

The girl/monster suddenly gasped.

"You…you…" she stuttered.

By instinct, I swiped at her with my sword. She growled and kicked me in the chest, throwing me to the floor. Mike raised his pipes and played a horrible tune. I guess it was supposed to knock them out, but instead, it knocked him out.

"Mike!"

A gryphon snatched me up and I swatted at it with my sword. It passed cleanly through and dissipated. I started to fall to the ground and hit it in an uncomfortable position on my right elbow, adding to the pain. Black spots began to dance before my eyes, performing an odd ritual.

The monster dug her nails into my leg and I yelped. She knocked my sword out and grinned evilly.

"I thought you were him but he wouldn't fight like you. Prepare to die, half-blood."

Surprisingly, she kissed me first, softly. Then she made her way from my mouth to my neck and then she bit me. She drew her lips away, blood staining her teeth.

"Mmm…tasty."

I started to black out. I was going to be killed.

"Die –"

Her back suddenly went rigid and she disappeared. A girl stood over her, her two swords raised.

"Come on," she said. "Get up. Help's here."

The last thing I remember was her carrying Mike and me into a kind of transportation before taking off into the air.

_..."The sooner we leave, the better," I was saying. "I want this over with."_

"_Aww," the girl sympathized, running a finger down my arm. She was beautiful, wearing a blue dress tonight. "You find it unpleasant to destroy your own camp?"_

'_Your own camp…' Those words rang in my head._

'_Yes, destroy it,' a voice inside me convinced. 'They have done nothing for you. They don't care. You've suffered enough. You need to fight back.'_

"_I need to fight back," I murmured. "Destroy the camp. Leave no one alive. No mercy. The camp will be destroyed forever."_

'_Yes…yes…this is your duty, Luke: Destroy the camp.'_

"_Destroy the camp…"…_

…"Destroy the camp," I muttered, snapping awake. "Whoa."

I was lying down in a bed in a room. There was a girl sitting in one corner, looking bored. Somehow, this room seemed familiar and it didn't, though, at the same time.

When the girl saw that I was awake, she got up and strolled over to me.

"Good, you're up," she said. "Took you long enough."

"What?" I reached up to touch my head, which was throbbing.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, my name's Tyler. You can call me Ti if you want. What's your name?"

My first reaction was, "You're a boy?"

"No, you idiot," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm a girl. _Why _do people always ask that? Anyway, what's your name?"

"Oh…me? Alex."

Tyler had chocolate brown hair that was chopped so that it hung to her shoulders. Her eyes were black with a rim of gold around them. She was tan and tall –maybe just a little shorter than me. I had a feeling we wouldn't get along a lot.

"Anyway, since you're up, Chiron wants to see you now."

"Who?"

"Chiron. He's downstairs."

"Uh-huh."

"Boys," I heard her mutter. "Honestly."

I had made it into the ping-pong room without too much trouble from my leg. Tyler had been waiting impatiently at the doorway, tapping her foot.

There was a horse's behind facing me. There were other kids in the room, too. There was tension in the air as if an argument had just been finished.

"C-Chiron?" I stammered nervously.

When he turned around, I recognized him immediately from my dream. His bow and quiver full of arrows; his 'Centaurs Rule' t-shirt; the white stallion body; the stern but kind face. They all hit me in a single blow. A boy and a girl turned around too and I knew them also.

The girl had honey-blond hair and stormy gray eyes. The boy had dark hair and sea-green eyes. Percy and Annabeth. The names came to me.

Chiron started to smile but then frowned instantly. He looked me straight in the eye, turned pale, and said five words that sent a chill down my back: "You're supposed to be dead."


	3. Tyler Claimed

**HeyOkay, people. Sorry for the loooong update. I HATE homework. I think I'm gonna flunk Latin and Math. Math especially. Anyway, this chapter's for my BFF, Arielle, 'cause she's been bugging me A LOT about this. Arielle, I hope you're happy now. Wait, scratch that. YOU BETTER BE!**

**~CampHB**

The words hit me directly. _I was supposed to be dead?_

"Wh-what do you mean?" I stammered.

Tyler was standing next to me, her eyes open in shock. The boy and girl were still staring at me. The girl gasped and pressed her hand to her mouth. The boy's eyes flashed. They looked familiar but I wasn't sure where I had seen them.

Chiron recovered from his astonishment and cleared his throat. Some of the other kids sitting around the table were looked at me suspiciously. Some had no idea what was going on.

"I-I don't understand."

"Uh, never mind," Chiron said, regaining his composure. "Anyway…what is your name?"

"Um…Alex. Alex Henderson."

"Hmm…Alex," he mused. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Where do you live?'

"Delaware."

"What is your last name?"

"I already told you. Henderson. Do you want me to spell it for you? H-e-n –"

"No, it's all right," he said absent-mindedly. "What do you like to do during your free time?"

"Why are you asking me random questions?" I retorted.

"Hmm…," he said again. "Just like Luke. Impatient. Ignorant. Repeating a question with a question…"

"_Excuse me?_"

Tyler snorted behind my back and I glared at her. My unneeded comment seemed to wake Chiron from whatever he was thinking.

"Anyway, Tyler, you can take him to Cabin 11 for now, because he's unclaimed."

"But, sir…there's no more bunks left unless…he has to use…"

"…Yes. He'll have to use _that one."_

Tyler grimaced and pulled at my arm.

"Come on," she said.

I didn't budge. This was too hard for me to take in.

"Come _on._" She dug her nails into my skin and I yelped before she dragged me out.

"You'll have to do better than that, Alex," she muttered.

Tyler led me outside in the hot sun.

"Where are we going?" I called.

She muttered something inaudible.

"What?"

"Oh gods, just…follow me!" She stomped through the grass toward a bunch of cabins huddled together.

"Geez," I mumbled. "Glad to know you care. I feel the love."

In the center of the cabins was a courtyard kind of thing. There was a bonfire in the middle where a young girl was tending it. Statues of people dotted the square, a few showing some _very unnecessary _parts. Tyler shoved me into a brown cabin. The inside was like a garbage dump.

Clothes and shoes were littered on the floor. Candy wrappers were everywhere. The kids inside were having a 'snowball fight' with crumpled up pieces of paper.

"Guys!" Tyler immediately yelled. The kids froze and turned to her direction. A chair near the back of the room began to splinter.

"Uh…hey." A guy stepped forward. He had curly brown hair and brown eyes. "Um…" –he took one glance at me–_ "Oh gods! Travis, look!"_

Another boy, almost identical to the first one, widened his eyes. "Whoa. L –"

Tyler gave him a silencing stare.

I groaned inwardly. _Not the _looks_ again. How long is this going to take?_

"Uh…hi," Travis said awkwardly. "I'm, um, Travis and that's my brother Connor."

"Cabin 11, introduce yourselves," Connor yelled.

"Drake."

"Sean."

"Natalie."

"Cody."

"Jayden."

"Bridget."

"Tanya."

"So, uh…" Travis cleared his throat and rubbed his back self-counciously. "I guess you'll be taking that bunk over there…" He gestured to a single bed in the back of the room. It was still rumpled as if someone had been sleeping there. I walked over and sat down.

On the walls, there were pictures taped on. There was a picture of a dark-haired girl with her arms around Annabeth and…me, I realized. I was in the photo, even though I was certain that I did not take a picture.

"Thalia," I suddenly muttered.

Travis' spine went rigid and he shot a glance at Conner, who seemed to be sizing me up. He made eye contact and suddenly developed an interest in his shoes.

"Y'know you were supposed to be at the meeting. Both of you." Tyler directed her glare to the brothers.

"So?" Connor said. "I don't care. Besides, Mr. D's in a meeting so I'm not turning into a shrub again."

There was silence before the attention turned back to me. I fiddled idly with the dog tag.

"Anyway, you'll be staying here until you're claimed," Travis continued.

"What do you mean? I mean, seriously. Where am I?" I asked. This didn't make sense.

"You're at Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp Half-Blood. Right."

"Yup." Connor sounded like that was the most obvious place to be in the summer. "You stay here until you're claimed."

"Claimed?"

Tyler sighed. "I know this might seem really weird, 'cause it pretty much is, but you're the descendent of a Greek god or goddess, depending on who your godly parent is."

"What? But I'm adopted."

"Then your former mom or dad would be your mortal parent. If you had a mom, then your godly parent would be a god, and vice versa. Do you remember anything about your real parents?"

"Um…not exactly…" I hesitated about telling them about waking up and not knowing where I was, and quickly decided against that. They would probably think that I was a little crazy and I didn't want to ruin my reputation on the first day…wherever I was.

"Well, you're stuck here until they claim you."

"I still don't get it."

"Boys," Tyler groaned, slapping her head. "I swear. They're totally clueless." She flopped down on her bed.

A camper spoke up. His name was Drake, I think. "Basically, you know about the Greek gods, right?"

"Not a lot. The performing arts teacher did a section on it, but it was pretty boring. Besides, they're just myths, right."

Drake flinched. "Watch it. The gods are pretty sensitive about words. So anyway, they fell in love with mortals and well, had offspring which would be us."

"Whoa. Slow down. You're telling me that I'm the son of an ancient civilization that didn't make it past the first century A.D.?"

"Actually, even though it only made it as a country until 50 B.C., it still lives on in the U.S.," Natalie piped up.

"Okay. Still, are you expecting me to believe that?" I gave a nervous laugh.

"Yup." Connor gave a serious nod. "You'll see in the next few days."

We had a very interesting dinner that night. I started to fit in with the other campers, but felt a little out of place when he had sword-fighting practice on Friday.

Percy Jackson, a son of Poseidon, was swinging his sword around. His movements were fluid and his muscles rippled.

"He's unbeatable," Drake whispered. "He's impenetrable."

"Okay. Today, we're going to have a little tournament," Percy announced. "I already set up the ordering. Drake, you're up first against Tanya."

"Good luck," I whispered.

"Yeah, thanks," Drake said as he jogged out into the arena. He whirled his golden sword around like a baton.

Drake won that round. Tanya sat beside me on the bench. I nervously twisted the cloth of my pants.

"…I guess that I'll have to go against Alex, then," Percy finally said.

I stood up and wiped my sweaty hands against my basketball shorts before stepping out into the sunlight.

"Where's your sword?" Percy asked.

"Here." The dog tag came of easily and I tossed it in the air. It flipped and when it reached my palm, it was a double-edged sword.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Let's go."

We circled each other warily and I eyed him. He was tense, muscles ready to strike. I lightly danced on my feet, making me quicker. I saw his jaw clench as he made his first thrust. I blocked it right away and stepped back.

"Show me what you've got," I said.

He thrusted again. I parried. I began to calculate his next movements in my mind. I could see his gears turning in his head, too.

I lunged at him. He expected it and tried to block it. I ducked underneath and hit his abs good and hard, but the sword bounced back. Drake was right when he said he was impenetrable. Percy was invulnerable.

We fought for a few more minutes, and I saw that he was starting to get tired. I was perfectly fine. Percy swiped at my neck. I backed up enough so it only touched my shirt. His blade caught my leather necklace and cut through it. It fell to the ground with a soft thud.

He stared at it, taking in the six clay beads.

"Percy?" Annabeth was walking toward us. "Chiron needs you for a –what's wrong? You're turning pale."

Percy just shook his head. Annabeth walked to him and followed his gaze.

"Oh. My. Gods," she gasped. She picked up the leather cord. "Oh my gods, this was Luke's. I'm sure of it."

"Luke?" My sword suddenly dropped from my hand and fell to the floor. It immediately changed into a dog tag.

Annabeth also picked that up and looked at the initials, L.C. "Luke," she breathed. "This was definitely his." She stared at me. "You look exactly like him, too. I've got to tell Chiron." Annabeth dropped the objects and sprinted off.

"Does she do that a lot?" I asked Percy.

"Yeah. Just like the first time I met her…"

That night we played Capture the Flag. I ran silently in the woods, since I was in charge of stealing the other team's banner. I loved stealing things. It gave me a sense of alertness and it just felt plain good.

I jumped over logs and ducked by the tree branches. The Hermes cabin had been split in two. Tyler, who was on the other team, had sworn to beat me up if I even thought about taking their flag.

I reached the edge of clearing, and shrank back into the shadows. The flag was standing alone with no one guarding it.

_This is pretty easy, _I thought. I ran and snatched the banner.

Immediately, campers burst out of the trees, circling me, blocking any escape. Annabeth and Percy walked forward.

"It wouldn't be that easy, believe me," Annabeth said. "I'm a daughter of Athena, that's why."

"Right."

"You're not getting that." She lunged at me and I pulled out my sword. She whipped out her dagger and Percy brandished his weapon.

They attacked me. The circle of campers would poke me if I got too close, so I had to stay near the middle. Suddenly, I understood Annabeth's plan. They would surround me in the middle and then take me to their 'prison.' I had to find a way out.

Tyler suddenly pushed her way forward.

"I told you not to even think about it didn't I?" she smirked.

"Right. I remember that. And then you gave me a death threat."

"True enough," she said.

I backed up slowly against the pole that had held the flag. Tyler pressed forward with her sword.

"I've got him," she said.

"Too late." I yanked the pole out of the ground, spinning it expertly. I aimed it at an opening, and the campers scattered.

"Run!" Connor called from the edge of the clearing. "C'mon, Luke, you can do it! Luke! Run, Luke!"

"Name's Alex," I called.

"Uh…right. Sorry. My bad."

As I crossed the border line, Chiron sounded the conch horn. "The Blue Team wins!" he announced. "Good job."

Annabeth neared Chiron and me. "That's exactly what Luke did when I used that tactic on him," she told Chiron. "Every last move."

"Ha, freak! You lost!" Zeke, a son of Nike, scoffed at Tyler. She threw him a glare. "Of course you lost. 'Cause you're a _freak, freak. _Even your godly parent is too ashamed to claim you."

Tyler's back grew suddenly rigid. I had a feeling that even though she had gone through a lot, no one, no one had ever said that to her.

"You…You are dead, Ezekiel Zampetti. You are dead." Branches started to break off trees, and dryads complained. They whirled around with rocks and leaves, all aiming for Zeke.

"I hate you! I hate all of you!" she yelled. The branches flew at Zeke, hitting him in the stomach.

Suddenly, she howled and fell to her knees. Campers scattered. When she stood back up again, her eyes were pure gold. A golden apple shone above her head.

Chiron gasped and bowed. The other campers did the same, even though Zeke wasn't too happy. "Hail Tyler Arena, child of the cause of wars and conflicts, friend of Ares, nemesis of Nike and Harmonia. Tyler Arena, daughter of Eris, the goddess of discord."

**Dun Dun Dun DUN! What'll happen next! :D Suspense & Cliffhanger!**

**~CampHB**


	4. The Truth Revealed

**Here ya go, people. I hope you're happy. :) Everything will be explained! :O**

**Oh, and, there is a scene here that relates to Luke's reincarnation. You have to decide if 'Alex' is Luke's 1****st****, 2****nd****, or 3****rd**** and last reincarnation. The first person that guesses the correct answer in a review gets the next chapter dedicated to them AND can add a scene to the story if they want. Good luck! :D**

**Pm me if you don't understand the challenge.**

**~CampHB**

* * *

I was on my knees, looking incredulously at Tyler. She was the daughter of Eris? It kind of explained her bad attitude, but this wasn't exactly what I had expected.

"She's claimed," Travis whispered to me. "Luckily, we built a cabin to Eris, so hopefully, the goddess won't attempt to destroy us."

Tyler herself looked a little shaky. Chiron stood up, and we followed his example. I swallowed.

I was a little jealous of Tyler. I really wanted to know who my godly parent was and why they abandoned me so quickly.

_Please, _I silently begged. _C'mon. Why can't I be claimed too?_

The rest of the night, Chiron made plans for Tyler to move into the Eris cabin. We went back to our bunks and climbed into them.

"Good riddance," she said as she went out the door. "Oh, wait." She turned back and cocked her head at me. "I never did what I promised, did I?"

"What?" I asked, pretending that I didn't know.

"I _told _you not to take the flag, didn't I? And I promised to beat you up if you did."

"Aw, man," I complained. "Can't you give a poor guy a rest?"

"Fine. Tomorrow. First thing." She narrowed her eyes at me before stomping out.

"Be that way," I muttered before sinking into a deep sleep.

* * *

_...Darkness…Total darkness…I hugged my arms tighter around me. The coldness seeped into my clothes. I felt afraid._

_There was light in the distance, but I was advancing toward it slowly. It was as if I was traveling in water, making my movements slow. _

_Lives flashed before me, but I wasn't sure whose they were…A baby…coming home with a proud mother…Dad lighting a cigarette…accidently dropping it…trying to blow the sparks out…smoke…sirens…suffocating in the burning house…a bright flash of light…_

…_A 3__rd__ grader, posing with his friends at Disney…going home…Mom and Dad unloading the car…going in the house…going to sleep…playing soccer the next day…then getting hit by a car in the middle of the road the same day…more light…_

_A sudden force yanked me out of the thick movement. I was now flying faster and faster toward the pinprick of light. It wasn't a pinprick anymore, though. It was getting bigger and bigger, like a huge movie screen. I passed through it…_

…"_Alex, wake up, Alex. Aaaalex! Wake up!"…_

* * *

…"Wake up!" Someone dumped water on my face. It was freezing and ice cold.

"Bwwwwbb!" I blubbered, snapping awake.

"So, how are you feeling?" Tyler was standing over me, an empty bucket in her hand.

"What are _you _doing here?" I blurted.

"Chiron combined the Eris cabin's activities with the Hermes cabin." She made a face. "Believe me, I'm not happy at all."

I rubbed my eyes sleepily.

"Still awake, Alex?" Another wave of icy water splashed on me.

"One second, two seconds, three seconds," Tyler counted.

"COLD!" I yelled. "FREAKIN' COLD! I'M FREEZING!..." I said a few bad words after that, so I'm going to beep them out.

Ten seconds later:

Me: *BEEP*, *BEEPING*, *BEEP*! WHAT WERE YOU *BEEPING* THINKING!

Tyler: (fakes innocent smile) Who me? What did I do?

Me: You *BEEPING* *BEEP*! You're gonna pay back for that! *BEEP* you!

Tyler: I'd like to see you try.

I realized the Hermes campers were laughing silently, rocking back and forth on their bunks. Connor was already rolling on the ground, helpless.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY!" I exploded. "I'm trying to sleep here, and then this maniacal person just walks up to me and dumps two buckets of ICE COLD water on my head. And then she claims she had nothing to do with it!"

"Uh-huh," Tyler agreed. "I had nothing to do with it."

"You…" I jumped out of my bed and lunged at her. She backed up and stood ready.

"You want a fight, you got one," she challenged.

"Uh…how do I hit a girl?" I called. The boys in the cabin scrambled for an answer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tyler rushing towards me. "Guys? How do I hit a girl? I mean, she's a girl, right?"

I ended up with a fist in the cheek as an answer.

"I'm not 'just a girl', you racist pig," Tyler said.

"Hey, I didn't mean to be racist." I held up my hands defensively.

"Well, deal with it."

She swung at me again, and I raced out into the courtyard.

"Get back here, coward," she called, "or else I'll go to you!"

Tyler sprinted out. Her chopped brown hair swung as she punched me again, this time in the gut.

"Geez, okay," I said. "I get the point."

"The point is that I'm fulfilling my promise I made yesterday. Get out your sword."

"My what? Why?"

"Unless you want to be cut to ribbons, idiot." She brandished her weapon and swung.

I yanked the dog tag off and parried just in time.

"What kind of sword is that?" she sneered as we whirled around.

I looked at the double-edged blade and read the words inscripted on the blade. "Backbiter," I said. "And it will bite back."

I disarmed her in one move and pressed the sharp edge against her throat. "And that's exactly what it does."

I saw her swallow slowly and she pushed the tip away.

"Backbiter, hmm…" Percy was standing three feet away. His arms were crossed.

Campers came out of their cabins because of the commotion. I stood nervously.

"Percy!" Annabeth suddenly called. "Chiron called a meeting for all the campers that were here last year."

"Got it," he yelled back. "I'm coming."

A quarter of the campers started to head towards the Big House. I walked back to the Hermes cabin.

"Wait." Connor stopped me. "You come too."

"Me? But…I wasn't here before." I was confused.

"You were."

"Okay."

Still puzzled, I left with them.

* * *

We were the last to arrive at the Big House. Percy, Annabeth, and other campers were gathered around the ping-pong table.

"Ahem," Chiron said. "As you know, we have a new camper, Alex."

"Uh…hi."

"He is also yet unclaimed. But even though, we still know his godly parent."

"What? You know?" I asked.

"Yes. Your father is Hermes."

"But how…?"

"This is the part that we are getting to. The Titan War last year. There was Luke…"

Annabeth flinched. "…Luke was my friend," she said. "I knew him since I was seven."

"What happened?" I asked.

"He died," came the curt answer.

"Oh." I felt like I was trespassing other people's feelings.

"He died because he chose to die to save the world," she added, softening under Chiron's gaze. "He also chose to be reborn three times."

"Yeah…right. So there's an afterlife…"

"Yup."

"So about his, like, other lives…?"

"…Alex," she whispered. "You're one of them. You're the reincarnation of Luke."

* * *

**Oooh! Another cliffhanger! If you want me to continue, PLEASE do your best to review. :O**

**~CampHB**


	5. Inner Self

**I know I keep on saying this, but sorry for the long waits. I have to update like five stories at a time. Actually, make that six now.**

**Okay. Just saying, I've decided to make this related to my other story ****Daughter of the Unknown****. It'll explain in this chapter.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Maidlin, Under0The0Sea, Rider of the Winds, Bookluvrr, and Sorrow-Wing. The answer is the 3rd reincarnation, but I decided that I'll dedicate it to all of you people because I haven't been posting a lot.**

**~CampHB**

* * *

"I'm _what?"_

I looked around at all the faces, trying to see if they were joking. They were all stone-cold serious.

"I-I-I can't be."

Annabeth reached up to her eye and I realized she was wiping away a tear. "You're him," she said. "You're just like him, too. You look like him. You talk like him. You even sound like him."

"What the heck?" I stood up. "Why should I believe you guys? Give me one good reason."

Annabeth took a deep breath before looking back at me again. "Remember that time at your house? In Connecticut?"

…"_You should not have come home."..._

_Thalia was sitting at the table in the kitchen while my maniacal mom was bandaging her wounded leg. Seven-year-old Annabeth was next to her, playing with a Medusa beanbag toy. _

_I stood apart from my dad in the living room._

_His face looked liquid in the light of the candles my mom had decided to light. He was dressed with a navy blue jogging outfit with winged Reeboks. _

"_Why show yourself now?" I demanded. My shoulders were tense, as if I expected a fight. "All these years I've been calling to you, praying that you'd show up, and nothing. You left me with _her._" I pointed toward the kitchen. I couldn't stand looking at my mother, much less say her name._

"_Luke, do not dishonor her," Hermes warned. "Your mother did the best she could. As for me, I could not interfere with your path. The children of the gods must find their own way."_

"_So it was for my own good. Growing up on the streets, fending for myself, fighting monsters."_

"_You're my son," Hermes said. "I knew you had the ability. When I was only a baby, I crawled from my cradle and set out for-"_

_Not that story again! Anger surged through my chest. He didn't understand._

"_I'm not a god! Just once, you could've said something. You could've helped when she was having one of her _fits, _shaking me and saying crazy things about my fate. When I used to hide in the closet so she wouldn't find me with those…those glowing eyes. Did you even _care _that I was scared? Did you even know I finally ran away?"_

_Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thalia rub her bandaged leg anxiously. Annabeth held up a burnt cookie for me to see. '_Can we go now?' _she mouthed._

_I wanted to answer _'Yeah. We're hightailing out of this right now. Just let my idiotic dad talk until his flapping mouth comes off about saying 'Oh, I love you so much!' when he never cared about me.'

"_Luke, I care very much," Hermes said slowly, as if he were reading my thoughts. "But I must not interfere directly in mortal affairs. It is one of our Ancient Laws. Especially when your destiny…" He trailed off._

_Exactly my point. Wait, what was he saying about my future?_

"_What? What about my destiny?"_

"_You should not have come back," he muttered. "It only upsets you both. However, I see now that you are getting too old to be on the run without help. I'll speak with Chiron at Camp Half-Blood and ask him to send a satyr to collect you."_

"_We're doing fine without your help," I growled. "Now, what were you saying about my destiny?" I hated it when people didn't answer my question._

_The wings on Hermes' Reeboks fluttered unevenly. _

"_My son," he finally said. "I'm the god of travelers, the god of roads. If I know anything, I know that you must walk your own path, even though it tears my heart."_

"_You don't love me," I spat. He probably never would. _

"_I promise I…I do love you. Go to camp. I will see that you get a quest soon. Perhaps you can defeat the Hydra, or steal the apples of the Hesperides. You will get a chance to be a great hero before…"_

"_Before what?" My voice was trembling. "What did my mom sede that made her like this? What's going to happen to me? If you love me, _tell _me."_

_I doubted he would. He didn't love me at all._

_Hermes' expression tightened. "I cannot."_

"_Then you don't care!" I yelled. _

_It didn't matter if he didn't. I didn't love him at all. I never would._

_In the kitchen, the talking died abruptly._

"_Luke?" Mom called. "Is that you? Is my boy all right?"_

_I turned my face. Tears pooled up in my eyes, threatening to spill. "I'm fine. I have a new family. I don't need either of you."_

"_I'm your father," Hermes insisted._

_Liar. "A father's supposed to be around. I've never even met you. Thalia, Annabeth, come on! We're leaving!"_

"_My boy, don't go!" Mom called. "I have your lunch ready."_

_I stormed out the door. Thalia and Annabeth scrambled after me. Mom tried to follow, but Hermes held her back. She clung to him, tears falling down her face. I took one last look at my former home before steadying my composure and moving on…_

"No. No. No!" I backed up into a chair. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't be. They had the wrong person.

"Luke," Annabeth whispered. "Luke Castellan. That was your former name."

"No!"

A boy wearing dark clothes spoke up.

"Annabeth's right. You're reincarnated. I can sense it."

"And who are you?" I asked.

"He's Nico di Angelo," Percy replied. "Son of Hades. He can sense the dead and all."

Nico seemed to be staring at me intently, like he was trying to see through my soul.

"No," I said. "No. I can't be. I'm not Luke. I'm not whoever you think you are. My name is Alex Henderson and it always will be!"

"No!" Annabeth cried out.

I turned on my heel and ran out of the room as fast as I could. The last thing I heard was Annabeth bursting into tears, sobbing.

* * *

I ran as fast as I could. I ran away from the Big House. I wanted to be anywhere else but this stupid camp.

_Faster. Faster. Run faster!_

There was nowhere for me to go. Nowhere safe. I opened my mouth and yelled. I shouted so loud, I was sure that they could hear me all the way in California.

"No! No, no, no, no, NO!"

I fell to my knees, my throat hoarse. I wasn't Luke. I wasn't.

_You know you are, _a voice inside my head whispered. _Those visions, those images. It's all proof._

"No! Get away from me! Leave me alone!"

_You know you're Luke. You just don't want to accept it. You don't want to face it. You don't want to face the truth._

"No! I'm not Luke! I know I'm not!"

_You are. You are Luke Castellan. Luke Castellan. Luke Castellan. Luke Castellan. Luke. Castellan._

"NO! I SAID, LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

I was going out of my mind. Literally.

_Your name is Luke Castellan. You were a son of Hermes, god of travelers and thieves. You were called a traitor by your friends. You held the spirit of the Titan Kronos while he was forming. Your mother was half-possessed by the Spirit of Delphi. Your cousin, Reagan Grant– _

"Stop! Please!"

There were footsteps behind me. Someone was walking to me.

"Hey, are you all right?"

Someone helped me up. Dark hair, cut short. Silver bow and arrows and hunting knives. Silvery clothing. Pale skin. Death-to-Barbie t-shirt. Skull earrings. Blue eyes. _Electric _blue eyes.

Her eyes widened. She let go of me immediately. Her eyes narrowed.

I stared back at her.

"No! It can't be! He's dead!" She glared at me like it was all my fault.

"No," I heard myself answering. "No. I…"

"You're not real," she kept on repeating. She turned around and started to run.

I ran after her.

"No, wait! Wait!"

She looked back and stopped.

"Wait…Thalia."


	6. Thalia

**I have not been updating in a _longgggg_ time. But yes, now I'm finally updating. :) I redid chapter 6 so it was more...interesting. **

**~CampHB**

* * *

Thalia turned and stared at me. Mixed emotions ran through my mind. I wasn't really sure how to react.

"I only came here because of the Hunters," she said finally. "I didn't even know that…that you're here."

My tongue betrayed me and left me dumb.

"Leave me alone. You aren't real. You died in the Second Titan War. I saw you die."

I was still silent.

"Look, the past is the past. Now leave me alone." She turned and stalked off.

As she stomped toward the opposite direction, my body unfroze from its state of shock. I hadn't exactly expected that, but then again, I didn't know what to expect. From Luke's memories, he had really cared about her.

I turned and walked back to the Hermes cabin, not knowing what else to do.

* * *

Connor and Travis were lying down on their bunks. Apparently they had also told our cabin mates what happened, because people were staring at me strangely. I tried to shrug off the looks, but it was hard.

The Hunters had finally moved into Cabin 8. The sparkling silver cabin dedicated to Artemis was filled with laughter and occasional shrieks.

"Hey, you know what?" Travis whispered.

"What?" Connor propped himself up on his elbow.

"So the Hunters just moved in, right…"

"Yeah…"

"And it's all _girls,_ right?"

"Uh-huh…"

"So…are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Oh man." Connor's eyes lit up with excitement. "You're serious, bro?"

"Dead serious."

"Awesome! I'll get the video camera."

"Wait, what?" I was confused. "What are you guys doing?"

"What do you think?" Travis asked. "They're _girls,_ you know, right?"

"Yeah. So they're…girls…oh…" The truth dawned on me. "Whoa. No way. I mean, like—"

"Look, it's fine," Connor cut in. "You used to do it when you were _Luke._ How different are you now?"

The words stung. I wanted to believe that I was my own person, not some stupid copy of the 'Luke' guy.

"Get ready," Travis called as he dug deeper under his junk to find his supplies.

* * *

At 8:30, I was standing on Cabin 8's roof. Travis landed silently next to me with his winged shoes. Connor flew down moments after, a small microchip in his hand.

"You so are not serious," I hissed.

"Oh, yes, I am." Travis crossed his arms. "If you're not doing this, that's your problem."

I groaned and slapped my forehead. It was too late to withdraw already.

"Fine. I'm in."

"That's more like it, man!" Travis slapped my back. "Way to go. So you know how the plan is, right?"

"Yeah. I sneak in invisibly with Annabeth's cap, which you guys stole from her, and unlock the bathroom window. Then Connor flies down to the window with the tiny waterproof camera and attaches it to the shower. Then you take care of the technology and all that stuff and when someone goes in you press the 'record' button. That's it, right?"

"Yeah, dude. You've got it."

_Perverts…_

"Where exactly did you guys get this tiny waterproof camera?" I asked

"We got it from Michelle, another one of your half siblings. She's weird and she likes to invent stuff." Connor whispered into my ear. "Really, really weird. Now come on; get started." He shoved Annabeth's Yankees cap into my hand.

I took the navy blue cap and fixed it on my head. When I looked at my hands, I couldn't see them. Travis nodded and I jumped down the roof.

My superman-style landing on the ground really hurt and was a loud thump, but the Hunters didn't register it. I quickly stood up and brushed off myself. A young girl was walking toward the cabin and when she opened the door, I stepped in after her.

Cabin eight was no different from any other cabins. There were four bunks on each side, totaling to eight bunks in all. The girls in the cabin were chatting and laughing loudly.

_No_wonder_Chiron was always complaining when the Hunters came. They were so noisy no one could sleep._The thought popped into my mind and I realized that it was what Luke used to think. I had to agree, though.

I made my way through talking girls to the bathroom, careful to make sure I didn't make any contact with them. The bathroom door swung open easily and I unlocked the bathroom window. Then I got out of there as fast as I could.

Travis was still on the roof when I struggled to climb back on. He was staring intently at the screen of his Macbook Pro. I tapped his shoulder and he literally jumped three feet up into the air. His winged Nike sneakers carried him back down safely.

Conner appeared in the sky and flew back onto the roof. Travis was busy hammering away on a laptop. I heard a ding on his laptop. The plan worked. And I was probably going to be dead very soon.

* * *

You know, there are some mornings that you feel great and you know that the day is going to be great and then the day _is_ great. And there are those other mornings when you feel great and know the day's going to be great and it's…horrible. Yup, this was one of those days.

I went to the pavilion for breakfast, stretching in the warm sunshine, but I was in for a big surprise. I had no idea that Travis put a huge screen up of the poor Hunter taking a shower. All the boys were staring at Thalia.

Wait, the victim was _Thalia_? Oh no, that can't be good.

Of course they didn't see her _showering. _You could just see her shadow through the curtain. Thankfully the Stoll Brothers weren't as perverted as they could've been.

I slid down the bench next the Travis.

"What did you do?" I hissed.

He looked at me innocently. "Me? What?"

"You know!" I gestured toward the screen.

"What? I don't see anything."

"Travis! The screen! Are you blind?"

"Shh." Travis lowered his voice. "You're supposed to act like you don't know."

I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Luke!" Thalia came storming into the pavilion.

Uh-oh. That probably wasn't a good sign. Beside me, Travis picked at his breakfast while trying not to snicker.

She marched straight up to my table and glowered down at me. I stared back up at her coolly, trying to maintain an innocent look.

"My name isn't Luke," I told her. "It's Alex Henderson."

Wrong thing to say. That only seemed to make her angrier.

"You…ARGH!"

Thalia's fists clenched and unclenched threateningly. I swallowed nervously. She took a deep breath and controlled herself.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked in a dangerously soft voice.

"Do what?" I asked dumbly.

"Don't say that." Thalia growled. "I know you put that camera in the shower and posted it as a video on that _giant_ TV screen."

"That wasn't me," I immediately defended myself. "That was Connor and Travis. All I did was open the window."

"So you do admit that you did it! Ha!" Her face was full of triumph.

"I didn't admit that I did it."

"But you were part of it."

"Well, no. I mean, sorta. But it was Connor and Travis' idea." I managed a small smile.

"Way to keep it a secret," Conner mumbled from across the table. "Ditcher."

"Don't you flash that perfect smile of yours and think that it'll stop me from being mad," she muttered.

I looked at her quizzically and smiled again. It wasn't that I was trying to bug her; it was just that smiling was the best thing to do, because even though I seemed cool and everything, I was actually trembling in fear on the inside. Yes, _trembling_ in fear of Thalia.

I saw more campers gathering around us, watching our argument. Great. Just great. Not only is Thalia mad, but on top of that, people are watching us.

"Hey, we're cool, right?" I asked. I spread out my hands. "It wasn't my fault. Really. Conner and Travis are _super_ perverted, right? And besides, I really didn't know it was you. Seriously."

Connor protested. "Hey!"

That probably wasn't the best thing to say.

"LUKE CASTELLAN! YOU. ARE. SO. FREAKING. _DEAD!" _

"The name's _Alex_," I corrected again.

"For once I'm letting Travis and Connor getting away with this." Thalia told me angrily.

She let out a burst of lightning. It hit me in the chest _hard_.

"I am _so_ going to kill you!"

She shot another burst of lightning at me. It felt as if a bajillion volts running through my body. Wait, let me rephrase that. A bajillion volts _was_ running through my body. I fell to the ground, almost unconscious.

There's something I learned today. Lightning hurts.

By the time the daughter of Zeus was finished with the first round, I was already feeling like I had been dragged through every forest, dumped down from every cliff, fell onto every sharp rock, and had been encased in every electrical power plant. I had never, and I repeat _never,_ felt any worse.

Thalia was breathing hard, her bright eyes narrowed. She kicked my side and I winced and sat up. Her eyes widened and I braced myself for another round.

_This girl has no limits._

"How come you can still look so perfect after everything?" she screeched. "You're just like him! You _are_ him!"

"What?" My brain felt like it had just been fried to a crisp and wasn't working very well.

"Translation: She thinks you're hot," Travis said with a straight face.

I looked at Thalia, one eyebrow raised.

"No way," she snarled.

She raised a hand at Travis and he cringed, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay. I take that back. I don't want to end up like _him._"

"_Sorry, bro,"_ Travis mouthed.

"Luke Castellan."

A girl walked down the aisle to me. She had a silver bow and arrow at her side. Her blond hair swayed as she walked and her brown eyes flashed with anger.

"How _dare_ you pull this prank on our lieutenant."

This was seriously not good. I was too scared to correct her how my name was _not_ Luke Castellan. When Hunters are involved, you want to get out of the situation _immediately. Immediately. _

Thankfully at that moment, Chiron appeared. He frowned at the scene and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Campers, what's going on?" he asked.

I winced slightly at his tone. He didn't seem very happy.

His eyes honed in on me. A look of disappointment crossed his face before he turned away.

"I want to see Thalia, Conner, Travis, and Alex in my office. _Now._"

Thalia scowled at me before turning her back on me. Conner gulped before helping me up. Travis fiddled with his camp necklace.

"C'mon, Alex," he said. "We gotta go."

Connor pressed a button on a remote control. The screen started to roll up and shrank to a mini box with a small _pop!_

"Are we in trouble?"

Conner raised an eyebrow. "You think? I've never seen Chiron so mad before."

I sighed. How did I ever get into this mess?

* * *

**Review and be waiting for more! :D**

**~CampHB**


	7. Consequences

**I FINALLY UPDATED! :D I think this chapter was a bit short, but, what the heck. I'm on jetlag, since I landed in the States last night-excuse me, this _morning_ and am still tuned to Pacific Central Time instead of the Eastern Time Zone. The next chapter will be updated on or before July 13th. I'll be updating _Daybreak_ tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, since I didn't have time to type up everything. Enjoy!**

**~CampHB**

* * *

_Tick-tock. _

_Tick-tock._

We were screwed and we knew it.

The grave, scholarly scowl on a certain centaur's face combined with the intense, heated glower that was directed at us was more than enough proof that Chiron was _beyond_ royally pissed (not to mention his frantically stamping hooves and fists that were clenched so hard that I'm surprised that his fingers didn't pop clean off).

Dionysus, being the lazy deity he was, was reclining in his so-dubbed 'special chair' and entertaining himself with a ping-pong ball by repeatedly bouncing it on the table. He caught my gaze, a sadistic grin crossing over his mouth. His irises danced with a wild, mystic purple fire, their depths taunting me, teasing me. I looked away towards the clock that hung next to the photo frames on the wooden wall.

_Tick-tock. _

_Tick-tock._

_You're-dead. _

_You're-dead._

If it wasn't bad enough already, I would've sworn that the clock was also mocking us.

Every second that passed got us even more worked up. I fidgeted, my thumbs playing an endless game of thumb war under the table.

Thalia sat across from me, arms folded across her chest. A seemingly permanent scowl was etched onto her face, her gaze nothing but pure, raw, seething anger. Anyone could tell that she was doing all she could not to jump across the table and brutally stab Connor, Travis, and me to death.

The infamous Stoll Brothers were seated to my left. Connor was jiggling his leg anxiously, shooting his older brother a glance before resuming his staring contest with the table. Travis was busy chewing his lip. Every now and then he would take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

The tension was eating away at us, the silence unbearable. Why didn't someone _say_ something, for Olympus's sake?

I noticed Chiron's gaze settle on me and could practically feel the rage and disbelief radiating from him. I flinched, despite my thoughts to appear stoic. _Man, _was HE mad. Chiron closed his eyes and took a deep, long breath. When he opened them again, all traces of anger were wiped from his face. Only disappointment remained.

"I am not very happy at what happened at breakfast this morning," he began, calmly, cooly. A little _too _calm. Like the executioner before the execution.

I swallowed hard.

"Now, I am fully aware that you four have been involved in this little 'incident', shall we say, some more...seriously than others." The centaur's piercing brown eyes shifted from one person to another. We all averted our gazes. "Would anyone want to...explain?"

No one moved. No one dared to make a sound.

Chiron opened his mouth to say something again, but was cut off by a sudden sound. Mr. D had become bored to the point where he'd taken two ping-pong balls and began to drop the on the table in different intervals, letting them clatter noisily as they hit the wooden surface.

The already short fuse snapped. The centaur's eyes blazed with fury, and even Thaila shifted back in her seat a bit at the burning fierceness of his glare. He pushed his chair back with unnecessary force, resulting in the chair legs screeching loudly against the wooden floor as the mercilessly scraped across it. I winced and the high-pitched noise.

"Dionysus," he said formally through gritted teeth. "Please...stop...bouncing...the...ping-pong balls." Each word was spoken in a strained voice, his tone formal and controlled.

The god raised an eyebrow amusedly.

"...With all due respect," the centaur added after a long pause.

Mr. D snickered lightly under his breath before snapping his fingers and making the spheres dissipate into thin air. Chiron closed his eyes once more and rubbed his temples, regaining his composure.

"Travis and Connor Stoll," he called. "This is the _fifth time_ you've been caught up in mischief this week and it's _only_ been THREE days since I last called you two here." He sighed before continuing. "I don't want to have another long discussion with you two again, and I don't think you would appreciate it either. You are assigned to Kitchen Duty, Cabin Cleanup, Stable Cleanup, and other consequences I will decide on later for the rest of the summer. Is that understood?"

"_Stable Cleanup?" _Connor blurted, panic rising in his voice. "We have to shovel the _horse poop?"_

A smirk pasted itself on Thalia's face, and she grinned maliciously and the son of Hermes's discomfort at the mention of manure. Chiron looked at Connor pointedly and the boy shut up.

"Is that understood?" he asked again, his tone slightly impatient.

"Yes, sir." Travis nodded, picking at the table.

"Yes, sir," Connor mumbled after his brother.

"Thalia..." Chiron turned to the Hunter. "I apologize for what happened this morning. I will take full responsibility, as it was my fault that I chastened these two-" he motioned to the Stoll Brothers "-too late. I'm very sorry."

Thalia just shrugged, but her eyes were cold, calculating, and positively icy. She sent me a death glare so cold there was no wonder why frost didn't come out of her eyes. I deserved it, I guessed. It kind of counted as sexual harassment in a way...

"And...Alex."

I glanced up, half afraid that I would receive a 1) ranting, 2) lecture on how I was so different from 'Luke' and what he would have done, or 3) a mix of both.

Chiron looked as if he was going to say something important, but decided against it.

"...Don't do this again."

I nodded, wordless. I needed to get out of here _now. _I was dying for fresh air.

"Don't do this again," he repeated.

"N-" My throat caught on the word. "No, sir."

Chiron turned his attention back to the table. "You are all dismissed."

I was the first to leave my chair and walk out the door, hands in my pockets. It was around noon outside, the heat starting to rise. I turned my back on the Big House and started walking. My feet took me past the Arena, past the Armory, toward the woods. According to my camp schedule, I was supposed to be in Sword & Shield with Clarisse, but what the heck. I could miss sword fighting for one day.

The woods were cool and calm. Clustered trees provided shade from the sun's burning rays. I weaved my way through my trees, shuffling around slowly. I had no idea where I was going, just knew I was going somewhere.

A uncounted number of steps later, I found myself with a scratch from a sharp branch, a bruise from where a dryad thought that it would be funny to 'accidently' whack me with a stick, and a hungry stomach. The sun was even hotter than before and I did my best to stay in the shadows, away from the sunshine. I reached a clearing where a huge pile of rocks stood, towering over me. The rock mountain was humongous and stacked up high.

I tentatively stepped into the sunshine before darting underneath the rock mountain's shadow. My fingers ran over the rough surface of the boulders.

_Letters..._

_Glowing blue letters..._

My eyes snapped open. I backed away from the massive heap.

_'You...WILL host me...'_

_A gulp. Fear. Shaking hands and sweating palms. "Y-yes, my lord."_

_A deep chuckle. A rumble of power. 'Very well, son of Hermes. You have served me well and will continue to serve me...as my new body.'_

"No," I whispered. "No..."

_"Luke!" Annabeth screamed, her eyes wide with panic, pleading me, begging me._

_My body tensed. Next to me, Anteaus crack his knuckles threateningly._

I squeezed my eyes shut. "No."

_'Your body...is mine. MINE.'_

_Burning pain in my chest, like someone was taking a knife and stabbing and twisting the knife mercilessly, hacking away at my body._

"NO."

I stared at the pile of rocks one last time before turning sharply on my heel and sprinting off. I had to leave. I had to go away. I had to leave this place. I had to leave Camp Half-Blood.

* * *

**Ehh. This chapter was...so-so. I think I made Chiron a little too OOC. If you really think I made him too out of character, feel free to PM me and tell me what I can improve on. Please RR&E (Read, Review, and Enjoy). I will do my best to update as fast as I can, but I am now thinking of requiring 5 reviews before I update another chapter. Another thing I'm not so sure about: Should I give Alex a quest? There's a poll on my profile, so be sure to check it out. Bonus Question: Where was Luke visiting in the woods? I don't think the answer's too hard to figure out. Good luck. :)**

**~CampHB**


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